Games of the XXIX Olympiad

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During Aug. 8–24, 2008, Beijing, along with six other cities in China (Qingdao, Hong Kong, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Qinhuangdao), opened the Middle Kingdom to the world as the host of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. A record 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs)—including first-time participants Marshall Islands and Tuvalu and separate teams for Montenegro and Serbia—sent about 11,000 athletes to the Games, which were auspiciously scheduled to begin at 8:08 pm on the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the new millennium. Since the time the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected Beijing as host city, on July 13, 2001, China had invested huge sums of money in urban renewal, expanded infrastructure, and construction of Olympic facilities in the seven cities. In the lead-up to the Games, journalists complained about restricted access to some international Web sites from within China, and pro-Tibet demonstrators interrupted the Olympic torch relay, especially in some European cities. Air pollution was less of an issue than had been expected, though heat and rain interfered with some events. Overall, however, the Games were well received, and the architecturally stunning facilities, notably the Bird’s Nest stadium and Water Cube swimming facility, were deemed outstanding.

Five new events were added to the Olympic schedule in Beijing: BMX motocross cycling (for men and women), 10-km open-water swimming (for men and women), and women’s 3,000-m steeplechase in track and field (athletics). Competitors set 132 Olympic records (66 in swimming), including 43 world records (25 in swimming).

A record 87 NOCs earned at least one of the 958 medals awarded (302 gold) in the 28 sports, with 68 winning more than one medal. Afghanistan, Mauritius, Tajikistan, and Togo earned their first-ever medals, while Bahrain, Mongolia, and Panama took home their first golds. China, with a total of 100 medals, won the most golds (51), but the U.S. captured the most medals overall, 110 (36 gold). Russia finished third with 72 (23), followed by Great Britain with 47 (19), Australia with 46 (14), Germany with 41 (16), and France with 40 (7). South Korea (31 medals), Italy (28), and Ukraine (27) rounded out the top 10 in overall medals ranking.

Among the individual athletes, 132 were multiple medalists, led by American swimming icon Michael Phelps, who captured a record eight gold medals and seven world records (plus one additional Olympic record) in his eight finals and thus broke the record for a single Olympics set by swimmer Mark Spitz of the U.S. at the 1972 Munich Games. Phelps’s 8 golds, added to the 6 he earned in Athens in 2004, made him the most outstanding Olympian in history, while his career total of 16 medals put him second only to Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, with 18 career medals (9 gold). Phelps’s teammate Natalie Coughlin was the top woman competitor in Beijing, with six medals (one gold), while American gymnast Anastasia (Nastia) Liukin earned five, including gold in the women’s individual all-around competition.

On the track, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt accomplished a sensational hat trick, taking gold in all three of his events in world-record time: the 100- and 200-m sprints and the 4 ×100-m relay. Only two other competitors set track and field world records, both Russian women: Gulnara Samitova-Galkina in the inaugural steeplechase final and Yelena Isinbayeva, who pole-vaulted to her second consecutive Olympic gold and 14th outdoor world record.

China won seven of the eight diving gold medals, including two more for defending double champion Guo Jingjing. Only Australia’s Matt Mitcham prevented a Chinese sweep as he narrowly took the men’s 10-m platform gold from the favourite, Zhou Luxin of China. Other standouts included Scottish cyclist Chris Hoy, whose three gold medals helped to lead Great Britain to its best Olympics in 100 years; Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba, who swept the men’s and women’s 5,000- and 10,000-m track events, respectively; American Dara Torres, who confounded the naysayers by taking three swimming medals (all silver) at age 41; British swimmer Rebecca Adlington, who broke the oldest world record in swimming—the 800-m freestyle mark set in 1989 by American Janet Evans; five-time foil fencing world champion Valentina Vezzali, who won her third straight individual Olympic gold (plus the bronze for team foil) ; and three-time beach volleyball world champions (and defending Olympic champions) Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the U.S., who never lost a game en route to adding another gold medal to their collection.